Notes on Psychoanalysis After the Founding
When Life Hands You Lemons…
Abraham Maslow's early life was marked by isolation and a lack of love, particularly from his mother, which fueled feelings of anger and hostility toward his father. As an adult, Maslow found acceptance and admiration through his work, which he had lacked in childhood.
Competing Factions
About 20 years after Freud established psychoanalysis, the field began to fragment. Key figures with differing views emerged, including Anna Freud, Melanie Klein, Karen Horney, Carl Jung, Alfred Adler, Abraham Maslow, and Carl Rogers. These analysts disagreed on fundamental concepts, leading to the development of competing schools of thought within psychoanalysis.
The Neo-Freudians and Ego Psychology
The Neo-Freudians sought to expand the role of the ego in psychoanalytic theory. They viewed the ego as more independent, possessing its own energy separate from the id. This perspective suggested that the ego could function without being constantly influenced by id impulses, reducing the emphasis on biological forces in shaping personality.
Anna Freud (1895–1982)
Anna Freud, Sigmund Freud's daughter, became an analyst and dedicated her life to developing and extending psychoanalytic theory, particularly in its application to treating emotionally disturbed children.
Child Analysis
In 1927, Anna Freud introduced her approach to psychoanalytic therapy for children, outlining techniques that considered their immaturity and verbal skills. Her methods included using play materials and observing children in their home environments. She also established a treatment center and psychoanalytic training institute.
Object Relations Theories: Melanie Klein (1882–1960)
Melanie Klein's object relations theory focused on interpersonal relationships with objects (persons, things, or activities) that satisfy instincts. A key aspect of her theory is the child's need to separate from the primary object (typically the mother) to develop a strong sense of self and form relationships with others. Klein emphasized the significance of parent-child relationships, especially the mother-child bond.
Carl Jung (1875–1961)
Carl Jung was once considered Freud's protégé but later diverged from Freud's psychoanalytic theory, leading to a split in 1914. Jung developed his own theory called analytic psychology, which contrasted with many of Freud's ideas.
Analytic Psychology
Jung's analytic psychology differed from Freud's in several ways:
It rejected the Oedipus complex.
It minimized the importance of sex in human motivation, viewing the libido as a generalized life energy.
Personality could change throughout life, not just in the first five years.
Both the past, goals, hopes and aspirations shaped personality.
Levels of the Unconscious Mind
Jung proposed two levels of the unconscious mind:
Personal Unconscious: Contains forgotten or suppressed material.
Collective Unconscious: The deepest level, containing inherited experiences of human and prehuman species.
Archetypes
Archetypes are inherited tendencies within the collective unconscious that predispose individuals to behave in ways similar to their ancestors when facing similar situations.
Other Contributions
Jung also contributed concepts like introversion and extroversion, developing a scale to measure these attitudes. He believed these opposing attitudes reflected the direction of the libido (life energy). Additionally, he proposed psychological types based on functions (thinking, feeling, sensing, intuiting) and attitudes.
Social Psychological Theories: The Zeitgeist Strikes Again
The emergence of anthropology, sociology, and social psychology shifted the focus away from the purely biological framework. These fields emphasized that people are products of social forces and institutions. They suggested that much of human behavior arises from social conditioning, not just from satisfying biological needs. This challenged Freud's work on neuroses as not universal.
Alfred Adler (1870–1937)
Alfred Adler developed individual psychology, which incorporates social and biological factors in understanding personality. A key concept is social interest, the innate potential to cooperate with others for personal and societal goals. Adler stressed the influence of future plans and goals on present behavior.
Inferiority Complex
Adler introduced the concept of the inferiority complex, a condition that arises when individuals cannot compensate for normal feelings of inferiority. He proposed that feelings of inferiority are a motivating force in behavior, often awakened in infancy through helplessness and dependence.
Drive for Superiority
Adler believed that the drive for superiority or perfection is universal. He also asserted that people have the capacity to determine their personality, creating a unique style of life.
Birth Order
Adler suggested a relationship between birth order and personality, influenced by how individuals are treated in relation to their siblings.
Karen Horney (1885–1952)
Karen Horney, considered an early feminist, described her work as an extension of Freud's system.
Basic Anxiety
Horney introduced the concept of basic anxiety, a pervasive feeling of loneliness and helplessness that can lead to neuroses. She attributed basic anxiety to parental actions like dominance, lack of protection and love, and erratic behavior.
Neurotic Needs and Personality Types
Horney listed 10 neurotic needs, such as affection, achievement, and self-sufficiency. These needs give rise to three personality types:
The compliant personality
The detached personality
The aggressive personality
Horney also described the idealized self-image, a false picture of one's personality or self.
The Evolution of Personality Theory: Humanistic Psychology
Humanistic psychology emerged, emphasizing human strengths, positive aspirations, conscious experience, free will, fulfillment of potential, and the wholeness of human nature. It was influenced by the Zeitgeist and early theorists like Brentano and Külpe.
Abraham Maslow (1908–1970)
Abraham Maslow sought to understand the greatest achievements of which humans are capable. He studied psychologically outstanding individuals to identify differences between them and those with average mental health.
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
Maslow proposed a hierarchy of needs, with self-actualization (the full development of one's abilities and potential) at the top. He argued that lower-level needs must be satisfied first.
Carl Rogers (1902–1987)
Person-Centered Therapy
Carl Rogers developed person-centered therapy, based on the motivational factor of unconditional positive regard (similar to a mother's unconditional love for her infant). This approach places responsibility for improvement on the client rather than the therapist. Rogers believed personality is shaped by the present and how we consciously perceive it.
Qualities of Psychologically Healthy Persons
Rogers identified qualities of psychologically healthy individuals:
Openness to experience
Living fully in the moment
Guided by instincts rather than reason or others' opinions
A sense of freedom
Creativity
A continual need to maximize their potential
The Fate of Humanistic Psychology
Humanistic psychology offered a distinct definition of psychology compared to behaviorism and psychoanalysis. However, it separated from mainstream psychology due to most practitioners being in clinical practice rather than academia and the timing of the movement. It did strengthen the idea that people can shape their lives.
Positive Psychology
Positive psychology, a recent development from humanistic psychology, focuses on happiness, excellence, optimal human functioning and subjective well-being. It involves research on satisfaction, interventions for enhanced well-being, leisure, peak performance, positive affectivity, emotional creativity, optimism, hope theory, and goal-setting for life and happiness.
The Psychoanalytic Tradition in History
Psychoanalysis has diversified significantly since its introduction. Contemporary positions may bear little resemblance to Freud's views and may still be labeled psychoanalytic. Psychoanalysis was more divided by revisionist theorists than behaviorism was. Many of Freud’s followers agreed that the focus of study should remain on unconscious biological forces or that people are motivated by sex and aggression.